Exporting difficult issues does not seem the most effective or humane way of making policy. But, in the case of Lord Falconer's amendment to the coroners and justice bill currently under parliamentary consideration, it is better than prosecuting innocent people who are supporting loved ones in the most difficult of circumstances.

Just as infertile people increasingly travel abroad to more liberal jurisdictions to secure the fertility treatment they need to create life, so people in the final stages of terminal illness are forced to travel abroad to win the right to die with dignity – specifically, to access assisted suicide at the hands of Dignitas, the Swiss group that facilitates control for people who wish to manage the timing, means and manner of their death. Since 2002, at least 115 people have travelled from Britain to have an assisted suicide.

This is not a progressive or humane state of affairs. First, because partners or friends who travel to support dying people are at risk of prosecution once they return, a problem that Debbie Purdy's campaign has highlighted. Second, because organisations like Dignitas appear indiscriminate about whom they help to die. Available information suggests that at least five of the British people whom Dignitas has assisted did not have a terminal illness, but conditions such as spinal injury and diabetes.

Lord Falconer's amendment is a temporary solution to the first problem, and one that is rightly backed by disabled peer Colin Low. The director of public prosecutions has indicated that the current practice of not prosecuting relatives is out of step with the law, which makes assisting suicide illegal in all circumstances.

But the real answer is to bring in effective assisted dying legislation in Britain, designed for mentally competent adults in the later stages of terminal illness, and with suitable safeguards to protect vulnerable people from abuse. Across Europe, laws are being introduced to give access to assisted dying in terminal illness: the Netherlands led the way, but Belgium and Luxemburg have now introduced similar legislation, while Spain and France are now actively contemplating legal measures to help people at the end of life.

As a supporter of disability rights, I back the right of disabled people to have control over the time and manner of their death, so they can avoid unbearable suffering and achieve dignity in dying. Being disabled in itself is no reason to die, but for many of those who have terminal illness, controlling the circumstances of their death becomes very important.

Activists like the disabled peer Jane Campbell, who have achieved so much in terms of independent living for disabled people, are inconsistent in now campaigning to deny disabled people a choice at the end of life. While the disability community, like the wider public, is split on this issue, surveys consistently demonstrate that a majority support liberalisation. Now is the time to introduce a well-designed law to permit properly regulated assisted dying in limited circumstances for terminally ill people.